1.

0 INTRODUCTION
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) makes a striking claim: “When the Sacred
Scriptures are read in the church, God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his
word, proclaiming the Gospel” (GIRM no. 29). During or whenever there was highly solemnitas
mass (in the early Church) the Epistle used to be chanted not in the sanctuary as now but from
the elevated lectern / pulpit (Ambo).

1.1 ETYMOLOGY
Etymologically, the word Ambo is from the Greek word “Anabaino” which meant “I ascend.”1
In its Greek original, the word “ambon” simply means a rim or raised area. 2 A raised platform
called a “migdal” frequently translated as pulpit from Latin word “pulpitum” to mean “a tribune
or platform.” Also, from the German word “cancelli / Kanzel” to mean the enclosure for the
choir in the early Roman Basilicas where the ambos were built for the singing of Epistle and
Gospel.3

1.2 MEANING
Ambo is “a fixed elevated platform, usually between the sanctuary and nave, used for reading
and chanting the Scriptures, the exsultet, the homily and the general intercessions. Its placement
indicates the relationship of the word to the Sacrament and should allow the faithful to see and
hear the minister easily.”4 The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, for instance, gives the
eminently practical direction that there be an ambo in a church and that it should be located in a
place where the attention of the faithful naturally turns during the liturgy of the word. Its state
that: “the dignity of the word of God requires the church to have a place that is suitable for
proclamation of the word and is a natural focal point for the people during the liturgy of the
word” (GIRM no 309). The Book of Blessings continues where the GIRM leaves off, noting that
the ambo must be “worthy to serve as the place from which the word of God is proclaimed and
must be a striking reminder to the faithful that the table of God’s word is always prepared for

1
O’Brien john, History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church (New York: Cincinnati,
Chicago, 1879) pp. 219.
2
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15 2016, as retrieved from
www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
3
John Miller, Fundamental of Liturgy (South Bend: Notre Dame Fide s Publishers Association, 1959) p. 111.
4
Arnold Kinyashi, Liturgical Signs (Unpublished Class Notes, Moshi: Kibosho Senior Seminary, 2021) P.17.

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them.” The concept of a “striking reminder” indicates that an ambo should somehow claim the
viewer’s attention and give clarity to the importance of the word proclaimed. The Latin text of
the blessing of an ambo from the Book of Blessings does not use the word “Striking,” but rather
it should redirect or render present in the memory of the faithful that this table of the word is
always ready.5 Then word ambo is a richly charged term. It signifies the rediscovery and return
of the liturgically-celebrated proclamation of Christ’s presence in the Scripture to the people of
God. It is not mere functional bookstand, but holds significant theological importance as a
signifier of the importance of Scripture itself. Accordingly, it is a reserved place, one used
exclusively by ministers of the Word.6

1.3 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AMBO

The earliest written record of the ambo in ecclesiastical history comes from canon 15 of the
council of Laodicea in 363, which spoke of those who sing from the ambo. Similarly, the fourth
century Church historian Socrates of Constantinople speaks of St. John Chrysostom mounting an
ambo to preach.7 The use of ambo grew widespread through next eight century before eventually
declining. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia include an entry on the ambo by name and summed
up the arc of the use of the ambo succinctly: “they were first introduced into churches during the
fourth century, were in universal use by the ninth, reaching their full development and artistic
beauty in the twelfth, and then gradually fell out of use.8

The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia noted that the term “pulpit” was gradually being replaced
by the term “ambo” because the new Order of Mass of Vatican II directed that ‘the service of the
Word be not at the altar but at the ambo.” Here lies the essential distinction considered so
important in the liturgical reform of the twentieth century. Pulpits, properly speaking, were
primarily used for preaching, and developed in the late middle ages as a place separate from the
proclamation of Scripture. The twentieth century developments of liturgical theology included a
new awareness that the readings of the Mass were meant to be proclaimed and not reduced to a
silent recitation by priest at the altar. The same entry in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, noted

5
Book of Blessings (Rome: Liturgical Press, 1990) as cited by Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for
the Word, November 15, 2016, as accessed from http:// www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
6
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15 2016, as accessed from http://
www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
7
Socrates of Constantinople, Ecclesiastical History, Book IV Chapter V.
8
Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) accessed from http:// www.newadvent.org on 08-03-2023, 09:42pm.

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with a certain sense of regret that the architecturally significant ambos of the early Church had
been reduced to a mere bookstand on the altar. When this public proclamation of Scripture was
rediscovered, the ambo was rediscovered as well.9

For the solemn of announcing the word of God during the liturgy ancient Church had three
ambos (lecterns, reading desks), more commonly two were erected on each side of the choir or
sanctuary and one for the Gospel and the other for lessons (readings). Since the liturgical
readings are meant to be the guide or directive and instruction to the faithful, the reader should
stand before the ambo facing his hearers / listeners. In modern churches, there is provision with
ambos where the local ecclesiastical authority carries the function regularly. For small parochial
churches (outstations) there, everything (the Gospel, epistle, homily and some other notices)
should be done from the ambo. While in the large parochial, the nave pulpit has become an
obligation / rule than a chancel ambo simply because the voice of the speaker can more easily be
heard.10

1.4 MATERIALS TO WHICH AMBOS WERE / ARE MADE

The materials used to equip or to make the ambos varied according to the means of the church
itself. Some are plain made with wholly wood while others were / are made of alabaster
(marble). Many ambos could be made engraved with curios picture or icons, such that, the
images of St. Michael with the last trumpet, the huge eagle with its eyes turned in the air to
signify the power or sublimity of the word of God.11

2.0 AMBO IN THE SACRED SCRIPURE

Sacred scripture recognizes the theology of the ambo as a Holy Mountain, Sacred Stone and an
Empty Tomb. This proves that ambo is not a mere bookstand. The following three points
explains how sacred scripture understand and appreciate the use of ambo in the liturgical
celebrations.

9
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15 2016, as accessed from http://
www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
10
Mahoney Canone Questions and Answers: Precepts (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd, 1953) pp. 413-
414.
11
O’Brien john, History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church (New York: Cincinnati,
Chicago, 1879) pp. 220.

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2.1 HOLY MOUNTAIN
In Scripture, mountain or other raised area are clearly linked to contact with God: Moses
received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the Temple was built on Mount Moriah, The
Transfiguration happened on Mount Tabor, and the Ascension at the Mount of Olives. Similarly
mountains can signify places from which human beings proclaimed the Good News, as in Isaiah
40:9 where the “herald of good tidings” is told to go up to a high mountain and say to the citizen
of Judah “behold your God!”12 Christ gave the teaching of the Beatitudes by going up a mountain
(Mt 5:1) and is described in the Gospel as going up a mountain to pray (Mt 14:23, Lk 6:12) and
taking the disciples up a mountain to appoint the twelve apostles (Mk 3:13, Lk 6:13). The
Sacramentalization of this holy mountain in the liturgical setting has traditionally been made
present by raising the ambo up a number of steps, as several of the earliest existing Roman
examples attest. St Germanus of Constantinople whose on the Divine Liturgy has proven a rich
source for the mystical meaning of the Sacred liturgy, described the ambo as a mountain situated
in a flat and level place, citing Isaiah in two places: “on a bare hill raise a signal” (Is 13:2) and
the aforementioned “behold your God!” Century later, William Durandus extended the notion of
the ambo as symbolizing the life of the perfect, those held up in public for emulation, just as
Scripture speaks of the life and works of the apostles, prophets and Christ.

2.2 SACRED STONE

Germanus also mentioned the ambo as manifesting “the shape of the stone at the Holy
Sepulchre” described in Matthew 28. In this passage, the angel who rolled away the stone then
sat upon it and proclaimed the news of the resurrection for the first time to Mary Magdalene and
the women with her, noting that the tomb was empty and Jesus had risen (Mt 28:1-7). The ambo,
then, can be seen as the sacramental imitation and continuation of this singular important Gospel
message. Architect Dino Marcantonio has aptly analyzed many existing early ambos as
fundamentally circular in plan,13 arguing that the stone that was rolled away from the tomb of
Christ was then laid flat and become the first of the “holy mountains” from which was
proclaimed the Risen Christ. As Marcantonio, put it: “it is as though the disc-like stone of the
12
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15, 2016, accessed from http://
www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
13
Dino Marcantonio, Parts of The Church Building as retrieved from http://blog.marcantonioaricitects.com. As cited
by Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15 2016, accessed from
http://www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.

4
Holy Sepulchre has itself been raised up so the priest standing upon it might more perfectly
imitate the angel at the Tomb proclaiming the Gospel.”14

2.3 EMPTY TOMB

The news of Christ’s resurrection corresponds not only to the stone but to the empty tomb, which
the angel asked the women to came and inspects (Mt 28:6). The empty space below an elevated
ambo has been compared to the empty tomb, while the ambos’ design richness speaks of the
glory of the Good News of the resurrection.15

3.0 THE FUNCTIONS / USES OF THE AMBO

The initiation of the use of the ambo in the Church was not only due to its significances on
simplifying the work of holding the Lectionary and Evangelicum (Gospel Book) but also to find
a good place for the homilies and other Church doctrines, to give the distinctness from the Altar.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM no. 309) specified the uses of the ambo as
follows.

3.1 THE AMBO IS USED IN READING OR PROCLAIMING THE READINGS,

RESPONORIAL PSALMS AND EASTER PROCLAMATIONS (EXSULTET)
During the celebration of the Holy mass it is obviously, often we have the readings and
proclamations for the meditation in nourishing our souls (believer’s souls); these readings are
done / read on the special elevated platform which we call the ambo.

3.2 IT IS USED IN GIVING HOMILY AND DOCTRINES

During the celebration of the sacrifice or the Holy mass, there are commonly two parts of the
liturgy such that: the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. After the readings, the
ordained minister of the Word (Deacon, Priest and Bishop) while standing after the ambo
normally use to give the homily in relation with the word of God and the lives of the believers in
today’s society. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC., no. 1184) appreciates the use of
ambo in readings and in giving homily. Its state that “the dignity of the word of God requires the

14
Daniel McCarthy, The Ambo of Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Record, November 2015. As cited by Denis
McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 15 2016, accessed from http://www.adoremus.org
on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
15
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 2015, accessed from
http://www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.

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church to have a place for announcing his message so that the attention of the people may be
easily directed to that place during the liturgy of the Word.”

3.3 THE PLACE FOR ANNOUNCING THE INTENTIONS OF THE UNIVERSAL

PRAYER
During the celebration of the Holy mass, usually the congregations of the believers do have their
special intentions to be offered in the celebration together with those of the priest (celebrant) and
the church. During this celebration the celebrant use to announce the intentions of the believers
with their prayer at the beginning of the celebration, these are done from the Ambo.

3.4 IT GIVES MYSTAGOGICAL CATECHESIS

In designing an ambo the practical functional needs are presumed to be considered, but after
mere functionality, mystagogical catechesis come into play. A simple lectern for instance, by its
nature indicates the idea of the book holder and stand. A properly designed ambo reveals
something more: the deep, interior meaning of the importance of the proclamation of Scripture. 16

4.0 CONCLUSION
The ambo is more than a reading desk that conveniently holds liturgical books. It signifies and
manifest the importance of the “living and effective” word of God proclaimed in the liturgy,
through which Christ “sanctifies humanity and offers the Father perfect worship.” 17 According to
the mind of the church, the ambo extends in the visual realm the mission of the proclamation of
the sacred scripture which “expresses the fathers’ love that never fails in the effectiveness
towards us.” (LM no 4).

16
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 2015, accessed from
http://www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.
17
Denis McNamara, The Ambo: Launch Platform for the Word, November 2015, accessed from
http://www.adoremus.org on 08-03-2023, 8:15 pm.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cathechism of the Catholic Church. (1994). Nairobi: Paulins Publications Africa.

Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). Retrieved March 08, 2023, from http://www.newadvent.org.

Conone, M. (1953). Questions and Answers: Precepts. London: Burns Qates & Washbourne Ltd.

Kinyashi, A. (2021). Liturgical Signs. Moshi: Unpublished Class Notes, Kibosho Senior
Seminary.

Lectionary For Mass, 2nd ed. (2016). Washington DC: United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops.

Mcnamara, D. (2016, November 15). The ambo: Launch Platform For the Word. Retrieved
march 08, 2023, from Aoremus web site: http://www.adoremus.org.

Miller, J. (1959). Fundamentals of Liturgy. South Bend: Notre Dame Fides Publishers
Association.

O'Brien, J. (1879). History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church.
New York: Cincinnanti Chicago.

Press, L. (1990). Book of Blessings. Rome: Liturgical Press.

Scholasticus, S. Ecclesiastical History. Book IV Chapter v.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2011). General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
Washington DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................1
1.1 ETYMOLOGY..................................................................................................................................1
1.2 MEANING........................................................................................................................................1
1.3 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AMBO...................................................................................2
1.4 MATERIALS TO WHICH AMBOS WERE / ARE MADE.............................................................3
2.0 AMBO IN THE SACRED SCRIPURE.................................................................................................3
2.1 HOLY MOUNTAIN.........................................................................................................................4
2.2 SACRED STONE..............................................................................................................................4
2.3 EMPTY TOMB.................................................................................................................................5
3.0 THE FUNCTIONS / USES OF THE AMBO........................................................................................5
3.1 THE AMBO IS USED IN READING OR PROCLAIMING THE READINGS, RESPONORIAL
PSALMS AND EASTER PROCLAMATIONS (EXSULTET)..............................................................5
3.2 IT IS USED IN GIVING HOMILY AND DOCTRINES..................................................................5
3.3 THE PLACE FOR ANNOUNCING THE INTENTIONS OF THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER..........6
3.4 IT GIVES MYSTAGOGICAL CATECHESIS.................................................................................6
4.0 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................6
BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................................6

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